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Despite the violence in Washington and threats nationwide of more next week, a gun rights group still intends to hold its annual lobby day Monday in Richmond, where armed throngs usually descend on the white-columned capitol building.
But two things will drastically alter this year’s event: the pandemic and a fast move pulled by the opposition, which snapped up all permits available that day for Capitol Square.
The result: Most of this year’s gun lobby participants will stay in their vehicles, part of a caravan rolling through city streets.
Last year’s event was the largest in its 18-year history, drawing thousands who flooded the area around Capitol Square, chanting, waving flags and signs in opposition to new gun restrictions being proposed. Most were armed in a show of Second Amendment rights, with some carrying assault-style weapons — AR-15s, AK-47s and the like.
Gov. Ralph Northam, concerned about outside agitators and the potential for violence, fenced off the capitol building, declared a state of emergency in Richmond and called in extra security.
No trouble erupted.
Still, images of the recent riot at the D.C. Capitol are now burned in brains.
“That has nothing to do with us,” said Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, which spearheads the gun lobby day. “We’re all for law and order. We’ve never had any problems in all the years we’ve done this.”
But tensions are higher than ever now, with the FBI warning of threats to all 50 state capitols as Joe Biden is installed as president next week. Last year’s lobby day featured plenty of Trump flags and shouts of “we will not comply.”
“Everyone is nervous,” said Andrew Goddard of the Virginia Center for Public Safety, which aims to reduce gun violence. “It’s the rise of these armed, insurrectionist-type of people. They’ve been there for a long time but now they seem to be totally unafraid of being out in the open.”
Goddard’s group and Van Cleave’s have squared off for years on Capitol Square on the same day — Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It’s a popular time for lobbying and holding demonstrations.
Goddard says VCPS prefers MLK Day because it’s a day that honors peace. Van Cleave said VCDL likes it because legislators are at work while regular folks, off for the holiday, are better able to attend.
Rallies, usually based at the Bell Tower in the southwest corner of Capitol Square, require a permit from the department of general services. No single group is allowed to claim more than one hour.
Traditionally, Goddard said, “they had theirs at 11 and we had ours at 2 and all was fine.”
But last year, he said, the atmosphere was “so frightening we told most of our people not to even come. They effectively froze us out. So, I decided, to heck with them.”
VCPS coordinated with other like-minded groups to book every time slot of this year’s MLK Day, submitting their applications as much as a year in advance to get first dibs.
Van Cleave calls that “dirty pool.”
“For years we’ve been told that no one can apply more than six months in advance,” he said. “And I called right on the six-month mark, like I always do. If they’ve changed the rule, no one told us.”
Dena Potter, communications director for the department of general services, said “DGS does not have a policy as to how far in advance an individual or group can send in an application” and there have been no changes to that policy.
Goddard has no qualms about his strategy. His son, Colin, was among those shot at Virginia Tech in 2007, when a gunman killed 32 people on campus. At last year’s lobby day, he says, even more military-style weaponry than usual was on display, and it was meant to intimidate.
“So cry me a river,” he said. “They deliberately frightened people.”
Van Cleave says “baloney. Guns like that aren’t intimidating to me or the people I know. It’s the intent of the person who has it that matters. If they’re not threatening you with it, then it’s not a weapon. It’s a tool of self-defense.”
Arguments aside, neither camp will pull off the events they once envisioned. Current pandemic restrictions in Virginia limit gatherings to 10 people or less. No masses allowed.
And legislators can’t be found at their usual desks this year, with most working remotely.
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Van Cleave says the caravan will consist of private vehicles plus four buses bringing people from different parts of the state. VCDL is supplying flags and magnetic signs and has advised participants to stay focused on gun rights in Virginia.
He said the group did not encourage its members to go to D.C. on Jan. 6. He says everyone who broke the law there should be arrested and punished.
As for Monday’s caravan, he assumes at least some will pull over in Richmond and walk around with weapons in plain sight to make their point. And some will wave signs he says he’ll wish they wouldn’t.
“They’re free people,” he said. “We don’t tell them what to do.”
And, he said, “there’s always a 10% chance someone will cause trouble.”
He said his group will keep an eye out for any — from the inside or without: “We’ll be staying in touch with police.”
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Joanne Kimberlin, 757-446-2338, joanne.kimberlin@pilotonline.com